


For Now

by agntsanvers



Series: These Kids Aren't Alright [1]
Category: Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Brief homophobia, F/F, but this is def focused on kim and trini, guess you could read this as pre poly-rangers, kim is suddenly the mom friend, these kids arent alright
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-14
Updated: 2017-06-14
Packaged: 2018-11-13 21:59:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11194278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agntsanvers/pseuds/agntsanvers
Summary: Kim's just worried about her friendsorI wanted to write a one shot about Kim punching Ty and making out with Trini and this happened. How did it end up like this? It was only a kiss (it was only a kiss)





	For Now

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanted to write a fluffy one shot. I'm not sure where I went wrong.

It starts like most of her days seem to now, waking in a cold sweat with a vague sense of terror in the back of her mind. It’s a different Ranger almost every time. The feeling of their terror is getting more and more familiar. Kim hates it.

No one told them about what happens after the evil is defeated, after they almost die. No superhero story covers the dreams, the way they flinch at loud noises, the way they pick fights with each other because that’s the only way from them to ignore the fear.

Tonight it’s Trini. It’s fear and anger stabbing into Kim’s head. Zack covered Jason last night. Billy’s technically supposed to check on Trini. The feeling is so strong tonight, though. Kim can’t ignore the draw. She texts him that she’ll get Trini and rolls out of bed. She pulls on sweatpants and a jacket before dropping out her bedroom window.

She sprints across town. It rained yesterday and the air’s still heavy and wet. It doesn’t lessen the cold any, and Kim can almost see the clouds of breath she leaves behind like a trail back to her warm bed. She shouldn’t be running across town at 3am. None of them should. They should be sleeping soundly, meeting up at school. Not waking themselves screaming and piling together like lost cubs.

Kimberly reaches Trini’s in ten minutes. She heaves herself through the window. Trini’s curled into a little ball on the edge of her bed, swaddled in her comforter and pressed against the wall. Kim closes the door. She sheds her jacket and hangs it on the back of Trini’s desk chair. Crawling into Trini’s bed, she presses in close, wrapping her arms around Trini’s waist.

Trini makes a startled sound and tries to pull away. Kim doesn’t let her, pulling her closer.

“You’re not Billy,” Trini’s voice is rough with sleep and tears.

Kim nods, pressing her forehead to the back of Trini’s neck. “I decided Billy deserved a night off. I felt it pretty strongly from my house. Figured you’d need to cuddle.”

They (meaning Billy) had figured out that distance affects their Ranger senses (like Spidey-senses, but better according to Billy). Zordon says that it won’t matter soon; that they’ll be connected no matter the distance once their bond matures. Kim isn’t sure if that’s a good thing. Isn’t sure if she _wants_ to constantly feel her friends’ hurt on top of her own with no chance of reprieve.

Trini settles into her arms and Kim pushes aside her worries. “Do you want to talk about it?” she whispers.

Trini shakes her head. She never wants to talk. The boys sometimes open up. Kim shares with the others if it gets particularly bad. Trini’s never told them what’s going on in her head. Kim’s worried. She doesn’t know how long Trini can hold everything in. Doesn’t know what will happen when it all comes out.

For now she’ll hold Trini tighter. Try to fit her back together. Kim falls asleep wrapped around Trini’s warmth, ignoring the slight shake of her shoulders and the silent tears that land on her hand.

Kim wakes to a face full of light brown hair. Trini’s laying on top of her, head cushioned in the crook of her neck. Brushing the hair out of her face, Kim wraps her arms around Trini. Trini’s cuddly in her sleep. Kim takes full advantage since the girl can still be standoffish when she’s awake. She’s getting better though. She let Jason give her a piggy back ride last week.

Kim glances at the clock. They have five minutes until Trini’s alarm goes off. Kim wakes her up now to avoid the fallout the alarm causes.

Each Ranger has their quirks the morning after a nightmare. Kim likes pancakes and green tea. Zack needs hugs and forehead kisses (Billy supplies him with Hershey’s). Billy prefers an hour of tinkering while whoever’s with him reads a biography on Neil DeGrasse Tyson aloud. Jason likes to cuddle. All of them are fine with alarms going off. The noise scares Trini into a panic attack, though. The Rangers have learned to wake Trini slowly, with quiet whispers and gentle hands carding through her hair. Zack and Kim sprinkle kisses over her face. Billy whispers saber tooth facts until Trini wakes up.

In the moment before she wakes up, Trini crinkles her nose and pouts. Jason and Kim have talked about it extensively. It’s the cutest thing they’ve ever seen. Kim’s gotten into the habit of pressing a soft kiss to the crinkle. She likes the way it fully wakes Trini up and makes her eyes go all wide.

Those wide eyes meet Kim’s and, just like every other morning when she wakes up with Trini, the sight of the sun bouncing off those amber irises take Kim’s breath away.

“Morning,” Kim whispers.

“Morning. Thanks for coming last night.”

“Always. We’ve got each other’s backs.”

The alarm sounds and Trini flinches. Kim silences it and holds Trini until they’re almost late to school. They dress in a rush and run to class, making it to bio just as the late bell sounds. They sit in their seats in the middle row (a compromise for Trini’s preference for the back and Kim’s habit of sitting front and center). Trini gives Kim a small high five when she sees Mr. Howard glaring at them. Kim doesn’t pay much attention to the lecture, spending her time playing with Trini’s hand as the girl struggles to stay awake.

When they get out of class, the rest of the Rangers are waiting for them. They fall into a group hug in the middle of the hallway, ignoring the grumbles from other students. Billy pulls away after a second. The rest of them hang on for another minute.

“Glad you’re okay, Crazy Girl,” Zack starts telling Trini all about the action figures he found.

Jason looks at Kim in confusion. “I thought it was Billy’s turn on Comfort Duty.”

“It was. I decided to take over. I knew Trini would need to be held.”

Jason nods and his eyebrow quirks up as he smirks. Kim rolls her eyes and ignores the teasing look.

The bell rings and they scatter, Zack and Trini heading to English while Billy and Kim go to History. They leave Jason standing in the hall. He has gym and pouts as they walk away. 

They reunite at lunch, gathering at a table in the back of the cafeteria. They’re all joking and talking over one another when someone drops their tray across the room. The noise echoes through the cafeteria. The Rangers flinch. Zack and Trini stay tense and bent over the table the longest. The conversation slowly starts back up, but there’s an underlying tension. Anxiety buzzes in Kim’s head and she can almost _feel_ the way her friends’ hearts are racing.

She looks around the table. Looks closely. They’re all exhausted. Even when they’re smiling their expressions are drawn, eyes darting around constantly. On the lookout for danger. Kim watches Jason’s hand shake as he shovels mac and cheese into his mouth. Zack has barely touched his food. None of them are okay.

Kim sighs and clears her throat. The conversations slowly die down until everyone is looking at her. “We need help. We can’t keep going like this.”

Jason and Zack begin to protest. She cuts through their ‘no we don’ts’ and ‘we’re fines’.

“No. We _need_ help. When was the last time any of us slept through the night? I feel like I’m running on caffeine and adrenaline. And I don’t know about you guys, but my grades are slipping. Zack, when was the last time you ate a full meal? Jason. Jace, when was the last time you could move without being in pain?” she looks at all of them. “I can’t keep going like this. We need to talk to _someone._ ”

The table is silent. Finally, Zack nods, a quiet ‘yeah’ falling from his lips. The rest of the Rangers follow suit. Trini’s the last to agree, and her grumpy nod has Kimberly’s heart soaring. For now, their agreement to get help is enough.

She loves her friends. Loves them all so much it scares her sometimes. She just wants them all to be okay.

“Alright. I’ll do some research into group therapy so we can all go in together. But I’ll make sure they also do individual meetings so we have that option too.”

“How’re we gonna talk about Ranger stuff? We can’t tell anyone,” Trini says.

“We won’t have to. We can keep it vague. Say we almost died during the monster attack. Say we – that we – that we had to watch a friend die,” Kim blinks away tears. Jason sniffles and Trini glares at her tray. “There’s – there’s no need to go into detail.”

The rest of lunch is quiet. Kimberly almost regrets saying anything.

 

Every Tuesday Trini and Kim go to Krispy Kreme. They meet after Kim’s book club (“You’re such a _nerd,_ ” Trini says when Kim tells her about it). The meeting is cancelled today, so Kim simply heads for Trini’s locker.

She freezes halfway there. Ty has Trini cornered against her locker. She can’t make out what he’s saying, but she can feel Trini’s fear. Her anger, her disgust.

Kim’s own anger flares, enough that she sees Trini jerk in surprise. Kim runs down the hall, inserting herself between Trini and Ty in time to hear him spit, “ – filthy dyke.”

Kim was going to try to talk Ty down, but the second that word left his lips all bets were off. Before she even thinks, her hand strikes out, hitting Ty straight in the mouth. She feels a tooth pop out. It’s just as satisfying as the first time. Kim briefly wonders if they’ll be able to put _that_ tooth back in. Ty crumbles to the ground, groaning.

Kim turns to Trini. There are tears in her eyes, her cheeks flushed in embarrassment. A few tears slip out. Kim kisses them away. She presses more kisses to Trini’s face, whispering, ‘it’s okay. I’ve got you,’ between each one. Pulling away slightly, her eyes track over Trini’s face.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah.”

Kimberly watches as Trini’s eyes flick down for a moment. The world slows. Ty’s cries fade into the background. Kim leans in slowly. She gives Trini time to pull away. Their lips meet softly and _oh._ This, _this_ is what Kim has been missing. What the Krispy Kreme dates and lingering looks have been leading up to.

Kim presses harder, ignoring the groan of the lockers as Trini leans into them. She grabs Trini’s flannel.

They lose themselves until they hear Zack wolf whistle. Kim pulls away and turns around. They couldn’t have been kissing for long. Ty’s still writhing on the ground. His mouth’s still bleeding. A part of Kim wants to ignore the boys and go back to Trini. To _kissing_ Trini. But the boys all have smug looks on their faces and Trini’s burying her face in Kim’s back.

“What are you guys doing here?”

“We felt Trini get upset and then you got super angry so we rushed to find you,” Jason answers.

“I fell off my chair. I’ve never felt you get that angry before. Not even when Zack stole your clothes and replaced them with baby clothes,” Billy chimes in. His brow is furrowed. Kim can still kind of feel the undercurrent of his anger buzzing in her head.

“Ty was being an ass. I put him in his place.”

“Good,” Billy murmurs. Kim feels his anger flare up and the look on his face is scary.

Trini finally emerges from behind Kim. The tips of her ears are red. “Krispy Kreme?” she asks, looking at everyone.

A chorus of thrilled yeses fills the hall. Zack pulls Trini away from where she’s leaning against Kim to give her a noogie. Jason tucks Kim under his arm and they laugh at Zack’s pained cry as Trini punches him in retaliation. Billy chatters away about donuts and Kim’s lips tingle and everything feels okay.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I might continue this if people want


End file.
